Friday, July 20, 2012

Shingiro Adult: Iyiringiro

This is
Emily, one of Spark’s summer interns, with some news about the adult project
started over a year ago in Shingiro, a community in the Northern Province of
Rwanda!

The first of
the two groups initially came together as a cooperative of HIV+ men and women called
Iyiringiro,
which means “hope”. They wanted to create a group that would allow them
to work together to fight against the difficulties they face with having the
disease. Iyiringiro Cooperative started the microgrant process one year ago,
when they worked with Spark to implement a sheep-rearing project. They used
their grant money to purchase 32 sheep, so that everyone in the group would
have their own.

We got an
update on their progress after visiting during a community meeting on July 11th.
The community has followed through with their initial plan to use the sheep
manure as fertilizer to make the land they farm on much more productive. They
also have sold some of the manure for money to overcome some of their most
immediate needs, such as paying for their children to attend school and buying
clothes, food, and soap. This adult group has demonstrated amazing strength to
the rest of their community. Before coming together as a cooperative, the HIV+
members were looked down upon and seen as incapable of working. After implementing
their sheep-rearing project, this group has demonstrated self-sufficiency to
the Shingiro community and has decreased the stigma associated with the
disease.

Unfortunately the worst epidemic Spark has seen spread over 18 out of the 32 sheep and caused them to pass away. The group however, has made long-term plans to
try to overcome this challenge. They have already rented land as a cooperative
that they will fertilize with the remaining sheep manure. They plan to grow potatoes, both to
eat and to sell in a local market.

The group is particularly keen to grow food due to the level of food insecurity that threatens the cooperative. This is a major health issue because the antiretroviral
medication that they take is very strong and causes a person to feel extremely
weak if taken without adequate food. Most of the members of this group
don’t have enough to eat or drink, so they either don’t take their pills or
they become very fatigued and at times collapse. The group hopes that their
future potato project plan will help them overcome their food insecurity in
addition to their other immediate needs.